Biological fuel cell
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A biological fuel cell is a device in which a chemical, typically glucose, is converted to electric power by means of bacteria on the anode side.
Power outputs are usually small, in the order of magnitude of about a milliwatt, and there are no current applications. However, some hope to use them in the future to build a glucose-powered pacemakers that would need no other power supply than the glucose present in the blood stream.
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Microbial fuel cell
A Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is a device that converts chemical energy to electrical energy by the catalytic reaction of microorganisms (Allen and Bennetto, 1993). A typical microbial fuel cell consists of anode and cathode compartments separated by a cation specific membrane. In the anode compartment, fuel is oxidized by microorganisms, generating electrons and protons. Electrons are transferred to the cathode compartment through , and the protons through the membrane. Electrons and protons are consumed in the cathode compartment reducing oxygen to water. In general, there are two types of microbial fuel cell, mediator- and mediator-less microbial fuel cell.
Mediator Microbial Fuel Cell
Most of the microbial cells are electrochemically inactive. The electron transfer from microbial cells to the electrode is facilitated by mediators such as thionine, methyl viologen, humic acid, and so on (Delaney et al., 1984; Lithgow et al., 1986). Most of the mediators available are expensive and toxic.
Mediator-less Microbial Fuel Cell
Mediator-less Microbial Fuel Cell was reported by Kim, Byung Hong [1]and his team at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology [2], Korea. A mediator-less microbial fuel cell does not require a mediator but uses electrochemically active bacteria to transfer electrons to the electrode. Among the electrochemically active bacteria are, Shewanella putrefaciens (Kim et al., 1999a), Aeromonas hydrophila (Cuong et al., 2003), and others.
biological fuel cells take glucose and methanol from food scraps and convert it into hydrogen and food for the bacteria.
See also
Current research practices
References
- Allen, R.M. and Bennetto, H.P. 1993. Microbial fuel cells—Electricity production from carbohydrates. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 39/40, pp. 27–40.
- Cuong, A.P. , Jung, S.J., Phung, N.T., Lee, J., Chang, I.S., Kim, B.H., Yi, H. and Chun, J. 2003. A novel electrochemically active and Fe(III)-reducing bacterium phylogenetically related to Aeromonas hydrophila, isolated from a microbial fuel cell. FEMS Microbiol. Lett., Volume 223(1) : 129-134.
- Delaney, G.M., Bennetto, H.P., Mason, J.R., Roller, H.D.,Stirling, J.L., and Thurston, C.F. 1984. Electron-transfer coupling
in microbial fuel cells: 2. Performance of fuel cells containing selected micoorganism-mediator-substrate combinations. J Chem. Tech. Biotechnol., 34B: 13–27.
- Gil, G.C., Chang, I.S., Kim, B.H., Kim, M., Jang, J.K., Park, H.S., Kim, H.J., 2003. Operational parameters affecting the performance of a mediator-less microbial fuel. Biosen. Bioelectron. 18, 327–334.
- Kim, B.H., Kim, H.J., Hyun, M.S., Park, D.H. 1999a. Direct electrode reaction of Fe (III) reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrefacience. J Microbiol. Biotechnol. 9:127–131.
- Kim, H.J., Hyun, M.S., Chang, I.S., Kim, B.H. 1999b. A microbial fuel cell type lactate biosensor using a metal-reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens. J Microbiol. Biotechnol. 9:365–367.
- Kim HJ, Park HS, Hyun MS, Chang IS, Kim M, Kim BH. A mediator-less microbial fuel cell using a metal reducing bacterium,
Shewanella putrefaciens. Enzyme Microb. Technol. 2002;30: 145–152.
- Lithgow, A.M., Romero, L., Sanchez, I.C., Souto, F.A.,and Vega,C.A. 1986. Interception of electron-transport chain in bacteria with hydrophilic redox mediators. J. Chem. Research, (S):178–179.